(Questions excerpted from Moses: The Birth of a Leader, Global Day of Jewish Learning 2018)
Read Exodus 2:1-10
How does the text represent Moses’s parents?
Sefer Yuhasin, Abraham ben Samuel Zacuto, (15th/16th C, Turkey)
And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi....The reason the Torah does not mention either his name or her name, is to teach us that every Jewish home has the potential of giving birth to the redeemer of Israel.
(דברי הימים א ד, יח): וְאֵלֶּה בְּנֵי בִּתְיָה בַת פַּרְעֹה, רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ דְּסִכְנִין בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי לֵוִי אָמַר לָהּ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְבִתְיָה בַּת פַּרְעֹה, משֶׁה לֹא הָיָה בְּנֵךְ וּקְרָאתוֹ בְּנֵךְ, אַף אַתְּ לֹא אַתְּ בִּתִּי וַאֲנִי קוֹרֵא אוֹתָךְ בִּתִּי, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: אֵלֶּה בְּנֵי בִּתְיָה, בַּת יָהּ. (דברי הימים א ד, יח)
(I Chronicles 4:18): These are the sons of Bithiah, daughter of Pharaoh. Rabbi Joshua of Sachnin in the name of Rabbi Levi teaches: The Holy Blessed One said to her: ‘Moses was not your son, yet you called him your son. So too, you are not my daughter, but I will call you my daughter--as it is written: These are the sons of Bithiah, Bat Yah (daughter of God).
-Leviticus Rabbah 1:3
2. How does the text describe the circumstances of Moses’s birth?
3. Why would the text portray Moses’s origins in this way? Why is Moses the first named character in this story?
(א) ותקרא שמו משה ממלט ומושה את אחרים מצרה: (ב) ותאמר כי מן המים משיתיהו הטעם שקראתיו משה להורות שימלט את אחרים הוא, כי אמנם משיתיהו מן המים אחר שהיה מוטל בתוכם, וזה לא היה כי אם בגזירת עירין כדי שימלט הוא את אחרים:
(1) ותקרא שמו משה, someone who will save others by pulling them out of their calamity. (2) ותאמר כי מן המים משיתהו, the reason why I called him thus is so that he in turn would rescue others from their problems, just as I have pulled him out of the water (in which he would have drowned.) She considered the find as decreed by a higher power (compare Daniel, 4,14) Moses was saved only so that in his life he would become the instrument of saving others.
(ז) ותקרא שמו משה כי מן המים משיתהו (שמות ב, י). הכלל הוא, כי יש אור ומים ואש וזה שנשמתו מאש יכול להעלות נשמתו עד מים וזה שנשמתו ממים יכול להעלות נשמתו עד אור ונשמת משה היה ממים. וזהו כי מן המים משיתהו, משיתהו הרמז להעלות עד אור. וזהו הרמז בפסוק (שמות לד, כט) ולא ידע משה כי קרן עור וכו', הרמז משה שנשמתו היה ממים עלה עד אור:
(7) Exodus 2:10, “She named him Moses, for I have pulled him from the water.” There is a rule that when we have a combination of light, water and fire, the creature whose soul (essence) consists of fire can elevate itself to the level of water, whereas the creature whose essence is water can elevate itself to the level of light. Seeing that Moses was essentially connected to water, having been “pulled from the water,” he can elevate itself to the level of light. This principle is alluded to in Exodus 34,29 ולא ידע משה כי קרן עור פניו, “Moses was unaware that the skin of his face radiated light.”
[This “rule,” I have found explained in an article on Parshat Miketz where Pharaoh is described as standing above the water, and the expressions יאור, נהר,אור are explained also by Onkelos as basically parts of one basic concept. When on different levels of spiritual significance, they are called by correspondingly different names. The interested reader will find a very enlightening article about this written in 2004 in Google under the heading פרשת מקץ. The question I had asked Google, was: אור, אש, ומים. Ed.]
Me'am Lo'ez (Rabbi Yaakov Culi) on Shemot 2:10
“And our sages have taught that Moshe was called by many names. His father Amram called him Chaver, because of him [Moshe] he “reunited” (NitChaber) with his wife (see RaShI to chapter 2 verse 1). And this was a worthy name because he also “reunited” Israel with Avinu She-baShamayim.
“And his mother YoCheved called him YeKuti’el, because, I had “hope” (Tikvah) that HaShem would return my womb for birthing.
“His sister Miryam called him Yered, because she “went down” (Yarda) to the Nile and saw what was to become of him. That name was also worthy because (Hireed) he “brought down” the Torah to Israel from the heavens. And also because the Manna “came down” in his merit. She also referred to him as Tuvya, because he was (Tov) good.
“And his brother Aharon called him Avi Zanu’ach, because (Avi Zanach) “my father abandoned” my mother and remarried her and Moshe was born. And this name was also a worthy one because he caused Israel to “abandon” their idolatrous ways and also because his prayers caused HaShem to “abandon” His punishment of Israel (after the sin of the golden calf).
“His nursemaids called him Avi Socho because he was the “father of the prophets” who are referred to as Sochim (agents).
“His grandfather Kahat called him Avigdor because in his merit Pharaoh (Gadar) “restricted” his decree to throw the male children into the Nile.
“And the Children of Israel called him Shemaya for in Moshe’s days did HaShem “hear” (Shema) our cries.
“And from all these names, he was called by the name Moshe, which was given to him by the daughter of Pharaoh.”